Youth Unemployment in South Africa - Unemployment Trends for Youth

Youth Unemployment Trends in South Africa

Photograph by Gushan Khan

Youth unemployment is one of the biggest challenges that South Africa is facing. Although statistics from South Africa's government measuring youth unemployment include those aged from 15 to 35 years old, it is more useful to pay closer attention to the 25 to 35 years old age range. This age range includes young working adults and who are actively seeking employment.

As the graph below shows, youth unemployment had a slight uptick in 2008 and 2020 following global economic recessions that also affected South Africa; the economic crisis and COVID-19 pandemic respectively. The trend in youth unemployment has been rising since 2008 and is a clear picture of South Africa's struggle to reduce youth unemployment. Between 2008 and 2022, the percentage of unemployed youth increased by nearly 20%. Today, about 60% of the youth are unemployed in South Africa.

Source: Statistics South Africa (2022)

*The graph above uses an expanded definition of unemployment. This definition includes youth that is able and willing to work , but that is not actively looking for a job.

Gender inequality and labor force participation

Across all age groups, women are less likely to be in the labor force compared to men in 2023. Women with the largest labor force participation are in the age group 35-44 at 72.7% but that is 12% points less than that of men in the same age. The youth on the other hand, have the lowest labor force participation rate in the age group of 15-24. The other age group of youth 25-34 has a higher labor force participation rate but the women's rate is lower compared to men.

Gender discrimination in learning institutions and workplaces created a decline in the average work hours for women and saw increased childcare hours. Even when women hold important roles in workplaces, they are more likely to lose their jobs, struggle to be recognized as valuable employees or receive promotions. In South Africa, cultural expectations equate leadership with men and leaves little to no room for women to be given responsibilities.

The low labor force participation rate for the youth is due to a lack of opportunities, skills mismatch and in some cases a low quality of higher education. These are all factors that influence play a part in discouraging some of the youth to seek employment.

Source: Quaterly Labour Force Survey Q2 2023

Racial disparities in unemployment

The legacy of apartheid increased wealth for White South Africans while simultaneously impoverishing other races. During apartheid workplaces were racially and gender segregated, excluding Black women in particular. Until the introduction of the Employment Equity Act a few years after the end of Apartheid, the average work hours of Black women had declined while their childcare hours increased. However, Black South Africans are still the most underrepresented racial group in the labor force and in high-skilled positions. In the past 10 years, they have had the highest unemployment rate (36.1%) compared to other races such as Whites (8.5%) or Indians/Asians (11.7%).